Keyboardless text entry

ABSTRACT

Keyboardless text entry methods and systems are described. Various display tools are used in conjunction with, for example, pointing, scrolling and/or clicking actions to enter text into an interface.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is related to, and claims priority from, U.S.Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/546,750, filed on Feb. 23,2004, entitled “A Zoomable Interface for Keyboard-less Text Selectionand Entry”, the disclosure of which is incorporated here by reference.This application is also related to, and claims priority from, U.S.Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/546,847, filed on Feb. 23,2004, entitled “Pie-Widget Keyboard-less Text Entry”, the disclosure ofwhich is incorporated here by reference.

BACKGROUND

The present invention describes systems and methods for keyboardlesstext entry on a display for a wide variety of consumer electronicdevices such as TVs, PCs, touch screens and interactive kiosks.

Technologies associated with the communication of information haveevolved rapidly over the last several decades. Television, cellulartelephony, the Internet and optical communication techniques (to namejust a few things) combine to inundate consumers with availableinformation and entertainment options. As the amount of informationavailable increases, the need to access and use this data has grown. Notonly the overall amount of information available to the consumer hasgrown, but the variety of devices that are interactive, such as, PCs,TVs, and PDAs, have also grown. To easily enter alphanumeric data,keyboards are typically used on PCs a legacy of the typewriter. However,as more and different types of interactive devices become available toconsumers, a keyboard is not always the best method of interaction. Forexample, keyboards suffer the drawbacks of being relatively large,costly, and requiring more skill to use efficiently than many remotecontrol devices. To solve this problem, methods of keyboardless textentry have been created.

One example of keyboardless text entry is a touch screen where an imageof a standard (i.e. QWERTY) keyboard is displayed on the screen. Thissolution benefits from providing a familiar layout for users andremoving a physical keyboard, but suffers from other drawbacks. Forexample, the user's hands may obscure displayed outputs as he or sheenters text by touching keys displayed on the virtual keyboard.

Another example of keyboardless text entry is a system where keystrokesare drawn with a stylus on a touch pad. These drawn keystrokes are thentranslated into alphanumeric characters and displayed. Some drawbacksassociated with this method are the need to enter multiple keystrokesfor some of the characters, and the need to learn the strokes that matcheach character. Yet another method of keyboardless text entry isentering text using a voice recognition device (as described, forexample, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,629,077). In this method a voice input ismatched to a voice command template and if a valid input is received, acorresponding character is input to a consumer electronic device.Drawbacks associated with this method include a lack of robustness in anoisy environment and the potential for extensive training of detectionsoftware.

Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide keyboardless text entrysystems and methods which minimize or avoid the drawbacks associatedwith the keyboardless text entry systems described above.

SUMMARY

Systems and methods according to the present invention address this needand others by providing techniques for keyboardless text entry.According to one exemplary embodiment, a method for entering charactersinto an interface includes the steps of displaying a text entry toolhaving a center and a plurality of sectors relative to the center, eachof the sectors associated with at least one character, selecting one ofthe characters by selecting an associated sector; and entering theselected one of the characters into the interface in response to apredetermined event occurring subsequent to the selection step.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, aninterface input method includes the steps of selecting one of aplurality of objects provided on a display, the selected object beingassociated with at least one character from a first group of characters,zooming into the selected object, revealing a plurality of additionalobjects, each associated with one character from a second group ofcharacters, the second group of characters including those characterswhich are potentially selectable given said at least one character fromthe first group and selecting one of the plurality of additional objectsto enter a text into an interface.

According to yet another exemplary embodiment of the present invention,an interface input method includes the steps of displaying two rows ofkeys proximate an edge of a display screen, each key being associatedwith one character, selecting one of the keys, displaying the onecharacter associated with the selected key in a text box on the displayscreen; and displaying candidate items for selections in a display areabeside the two rows of keys, wherein the candidate items for selectionare chosen based on text displayed in the text box.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings illustrate exemplary embodiments of thepresent invention, wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates a communication loop between a display showing akeyboardless text entry tool and a pointing and/or scrolling deviceaccording to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 depicts an exemplary keyboardless text entry tool and anassociated angular reference system according to an exemplary embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 3 illustrates a keyboardless text entry tool, a text box, andscrollable word list overlaying a channel guide according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 shows another view of the keyboardless text entry tool of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 shows a scrollable word list based on a partially entered wordassociated with the keyboardless text entry tool of FIGS. 3-4;

FIG. 6 illustrates the ability to separate words with a blank characteraccording to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 shows text box cursor movement for the exemplary embodiment ofFIGS. 3-6;

FIG. 8 depicts an adjustable timer usable in conjunction with thekeyboardless text entry tool of FIGS. 3-7;

FIG. 9 shows a speak toggle button usable in conjunction with theexemplary embodiments of the present invention shown in FIGS. 3-7;

FIG. 10 depicts a zoomable keyboardless text entry interface accordingto an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11 shows an updated zoomable display based on a user entry to thezoomable keyboardless text entry interface of FIG. 10;

FIG. 12(a) shows entering a selection to a zoomable keyboardless textentry interface with a pointing device according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 12(b) shows a resulting display based on a user's selection of acharacter in the zoomable keyboardless text entry interface of FIG.12(a);

FIG. 12(c) shows a resulting display based on a user's selection of thecharacters “to” in the zoomable keyboardless text entry interface ofFIGS. 12(a) and 12(b);

FIG. 13 displays a keyboardless text entry system based on two rows ofcharacters according to another exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 14 illustrates an exemplary way in which text entry results and/orpotential selections can be displayed using the keyboardless text entrytool of FIG. 13;

FIG. 15 is used to describe a method of selection display based on auser entry according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 16 displays another method of selection or result displayassociated with a user's keyboardless text entry according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 17 displays selection refinement based on a user entry according toan exemplary embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 18 displays additional selection refinement based on user entries.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following detailed description of the invention refers to theaccompanying drawings. The same reference numbers in different drawingsidentify the same or similar elements. Also, the following detaileddescription does not limit the invention. Instead, the scope of theinvention is defined by the appended claims.

First Exemplary Embodiment—Pie Widget Text Entry Interface

The present invention provides methods and systems for easily andefficiently entering text using a pointing and/or scrolling device incombination with a visual display. According to a first exemplaryembodiment of the present invention a “pie widget” is displayed on atelevision, computer monitor or any other output screen and can be usedfor, among other things, text entry without the need for a keyboard. Aconceptual illustration of this keyboardless text entry tool is shown inFIG. 1. Therein, a pie widget 100 is displayed on a screen 102 and canbe used to enter characters via remote control device 104. In thisexample, the remote control device has two buttons 106, 108 and a scrollwheel 110 and communicates wirelessly (or via wireline) with the systemrunning the application which employs the pie widget 100 as akeyboardless entry tool. Those skilled in the art will appreciate thatexemplary embodiments of the present invention can be used with anysystem, application or remote control device and that those mentionedherein are purely exemplary. Specific examples of such systems,applications and remote control devices may be found in U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 10/768,432, filed on Jan. 30, 2004, entitled“Control Framework with a Zoomable Graphical User Interface forOrganizing, Selecting and Launching Media Items”, the disclosure ofwhich is incorporated here by reference.

The exemplary pie widget 100 has a plurality of unique wedges or sectors202, as also shown in the magnified view of FIG. 2. According to thisexemplary embodiment of the present invention, each sector 202 isassociated with a single character which can be selected by a user. Inthe example of FIG. 2, there are eight sectors, each of which isuniquely associated with the individual numerals “1-8” which aredisplayed therein on the display. The area within each sector 202 can bedefined, for example, using central angles relative to a center point204 of the pie widget 200 and a reference line 206. In this example, thereference line 206 is selected as the line which is oriented verticallyrelative to the display, however those skilled in the art willappreciate that other reference lines could be used. Using thisframework, each sector 202 can be defined as an area between two lineseach of which radiate from the center point 204 along two differentcentral angles, optionally bounded at the edge of the pie widget 200 bya perimeter line 208. For example, the sector 202 associated with thenumeral “1” can be defined as the area between the lines 206 and 210which radiate from center point 204 along angles θ1 and θ2,respectively. Since there are eight sectors 202 in the example of FIG.2, and since each sector has the same size, angle θ1=0 degrees and angleθ2=45 degrees in this purely illustrative example.

For a character to be chosen using the pie widget 200, a user selects asector 202 associated with a character. According to exemplaryembodiments described herein each sector 202 is associated with only asingle character such that a user enters each character by selecting asingle sector. However those skilled in the art will appreciate that thepresent invention is equally applicable to embodiments wherein more thanone character or a range of characters are associated with each sector.Various techniques can be used to perform character selection using thepie widget 200. According to one exemplary embodiment, once a cursor 212is stationary for a predetermined amount of time, the characterassociated with the sector in which the cursor is located or associatedwith is selected. For example, an invisible line can be drawn betweenthe cursor 212 and the center point of the pie 204. The angle associatedwith this line is then compared with the angles associated with thepredetermined sectors (e.g., θ1-θ8 in the example of FIG. 2) and thecorresponding character is entered. In the example shown in FIG. 2, aninvisible line drawn from cursor 212 to the center of the pie crosses isdisposed in the sector corresponding to the number “3” so the number “3”would be the character entered by the pie widget 200.

Note that the perimeter 208 of the pie widget 200 need not limit theselection area for the cursor 212. Alternatively, any cursor position onthe display may fall within a predefined sector and could be used forcharacter selection and entry (possible exceptions to this includeinvalid areas such as the text box and the word list box described belowand show in FIG. 3). This latter feature may provide additional ease ofpointing and selection, because the farther away from the center of thecircle, the larger the selection area and the easier it is for a user toaccurately point to the intended character space. The above examplesillustrate one exemplary technique to set up a reference system for apie widget keyboardless text entry tool according to this exemplaryembodiment of the present invention, however those skilled in the artwill appreciate that other reference systems could be used to implementthis embodiment invention.

The pie widget can, according to one exemplary embodiment, beimplemented as a circular pie menu with the characters arranged aroundthe pie widget 300 as shown in FIG. 3. In this example the letters “A”to “Z”, a “blank space”, and the “<” symbol can be used for text entry,spacing between characters, and deletion, respectively. A text box 302can be located in the upper right above the scrollable word list box306, and contains a text box cursor 304. Entering the “<” key woulddelete the character to the left of the text box cursor 304. Characterscan be selected by pointing to one of the sectors, e.g., by moving acursor or rotating a scroll wheel. The pointed to slice can beidentified prior to selection, e.g., by highlighting or changing thecolor of the sector over which the cursor is currently positioned. Whilethe sector remains identified in this way the character will not beselected. The user can thus move the cursor across multiple sectorswithout selecting a character. A timer is restarted each time the usermoves to a different sector. When the timer expires the character isinserted, e.g., as shown in FIG. 3 by the “w” in the text box to theleft of the text cursor and the visual indication associated with thatsector 308 is changed, e.g., the green coloring is changed to red. Thissequence is repeated for as many characters as desired. In an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention, the words in the scrollable wordlist 306 could represent possible selections with another program, suchas a channel guide as shown in FIG. 3, which could allow the user tomove the channel guide to the program which is finally selected in thescrollable word, list for example. Although use of a timer means thattext entry according to this exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention does not require button pressing, the remote control device104's buttons can be used as alternative indications that a final textentry selection has been made.

The timer 310 can be adjusted manually with the horizontal sliderlocated below the scrollable word list box 306. Alternatively oradditionally the timer value can be automatically adjusted based on userbehavior over time and be displayed numerically as in FIG. 8, forexample. For example if the user is frequently deleting and re-enteringcharacters, the pie widget 200 can automatically increase the timerperiod to allow the user more time between initial selection of acharacter and the pie widget 200 considering the initial selection to bea final selection that is then provided as a text entry. Conversely, ifthe user rarely changes any entered character, and/or if her or shefrequently uses a manual selection technique, e.g., pressing a button onremote control device 104 after initial selection of a character, toexpedite final selection, then the pie widget 200 can automaticallydecrease the timer period. FIG. 4 shows another technique for characterdeletion in the pie widget 200 by pointing to the center circle whichcan reset text entry and delete any characters chosen up to that point.

According to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, as eachcharacter is selected it can be inserted to the left of the text boxcursor. As shown in FIG. 5, the last letter selected is an “s”. As eachletter is selected the resultant partial word is used to search a listof words stored by the system, e.g., a dictionary of potentialselections. Any word that contains the selected characters will appearin the scrollable word list box 502 below the text box 504. Any wordthat appears in the scrollable word list box 502 can be directlyselected by moving the cursor to the desired word, and leaving thecursor there until the word is selected, which occurs when the timerexpires, or by manual intervention. This feature supports rapidselection from a list.

According to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, multiplewords can be entered. FIG. 6 shows an example of two words separated bythe “blank space” character entered into the text box window 602. Longsentences can also be entered. When the length of the entered textexceeds the size of the text box window 602, the entered text willscroll off to the left. This text is not lost and can be viewed by thescrolling the text box cursor 604. As the cursor approaches the leftside the text will scroll right revealing that portion of text.

According to some exemplary embodiments of the present invention, remotecontrol devices which are used in conjunction with the pie widget 300may have a scroll-wheel 110. The scroll-wheel 110 can be used toperform, among other things, one or more of the following threeoperations: (1) scroll the text box cursor 304 in the upper text box302; (2) scroll the selection in the text list box 306; and (3) scrollthe pie menu slice selection. Initially the wheel is associated with thetext box 302. To change the wheel association to a different GraphicalUser Interface (GUI) object, the wheel can be pressed as a button. Thus,pressing the scroll wheel 110 will change the scroll wheel associationto a different GUI object, e.g., the text list box 306. Pressing thescroll wheel 110 again will shift the association to the next GUIobject, e.g., the pie widget 300. Pressing the wheel once again willreturn the association back to the text box 302. When associated to thepie widget 300, rotating the wheel will change which sector is selected.According to one exemplary embodiment, after the character “Z”, the nextrotation of the wheel selects the center of the pie widget 300. Pausingon the center circle will reset the text entered. The timer can work inthis mode in the same manner as previously described for a characterselection behavior.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention,characters can be inserted and deleted anywhere in the text box. Thelocation of the insertion or deletion is controlled by the location ofthe text box cursor. The user controls the location of the text boxcursor by rolling the scroll wheel. Each click of the scroll wheel willmove the text box cursor left or right by one character position. FIG. 7shows the text box cursor positioned within the word “broown”. The textbox cursor in FIG. 7 is positioned in preparation to delete the extraletter “o”.

According to some exemplary embodiments of the present invention, thepie text entry widget can also include a text-to-voice feature. Thetoggle button labeled “speak” as shown in FIG. 9 enables the voiceresponse feature. When enabled, each character will be enunciated at thetime of entry. This can, for example, replace the change in display(e.g., green to red coloring or changes in highlighting) used toindicate a final character selection in the above-described embodiments.The character name can be audibly output rather than the sound of theletter. When a space is entered all of the entered text up to that pointcan be output as voice, in which case the user will hear the sound ofthe words rather than the names of the letters.

Second Exemplary Embodiment—Zoomable Text Entry Interface

According to another exemplary embodiment, text can be easily andefficiently entered without a keyboard using a pointing and clickingdevice in conjunction with a zoomable interface with a visual display.According to these exemplary embodiments of the present invention, apointer is moved, and a box, for example, containing text can beselected. When the box is selected, the screen zooms in on thisselection. The graphics around the box will fade or move toward thedisplay edge as the selected item grows and new graphics (representingsubsequent potential selections) will be displayed inside the growingselected box. This zooming action can be repeated as required for eachselection until a word (or selectable GUI object) is identified.

A display containing various GUI elements works in conjunction with azoomable, keyboardless text entry interface, as shown in FIG. 10.Exemplary GUI elements illustrated in this example include a requeststring section 1004, a directions section 1014, and a selection window1002. Other elements could be added, depending on, for example, the needat a given level of zoom, such as a current word section or a possibleword completion list section. The selection window 1002 has a shape 1020for each character or range of characters, in this example the shapesare squares or rectangles although the present invention is not solimited. The size of the shapes can represent the number of words thatare “underneath” the shape. That is, the size can be proportional to thenumber of words that are possible (feasible) should that block beselected. For example, the area of the box containing “R-S” in FIG. 10is greater than the area of the box containing the letter “A” becausethere are more words (or selections) available which begin with theletters “R” and “S” than which begin with the letter “A”.

The user moves a pointer 1008 to select the letter or range of lettersthat begins their desired word. When the user selects a shape using aselection device such as a mouse or other pointer, the selection windowzooms into that shape independently from the main view and reveals otherletters, words or phrases which are potential subsequent selections.Selection can occur using any of a variety of methods such as, forexample, clicking the selection that is currently being pointed to orusing a timer as described above with respect to the pie widgetembodiments. Zoomable keyboardless text entries according to theseexemplary embodiments reveal subsequent selection options by zoomingbetween different magnification levels. The selection options can, forexample, be subsequent character choices or ultimate word or phrasechoices. For example, FIG. 11 shows the displayed result after the userselects the character “Z” in FIG. 10 and a zoom is performed to reveal anumber of title selections associated with movies that can be accessedvia this application. As shown in FIG. 11, in addition to changing theselection items, other element areas change or become updated based on auser's action. For example, as shown in FIG. 11, the directions section1114 has been updated to inform the user as to what actions to performnext, and as before, the pointer 1108 can be moved to select the desiredword or phrase. In the illustrated example, the user is pointing to“Title 16”, and the interface provides feedback by drawing a box 1 126around the current entry.

According to other exemplary embodiments of the present invention, wordscan be entered by using only a pointing device as shown in FIGS. 12(a),12(b) and 12(c). Therein the interface contains a selection window 1202,directions section 1214, request section 1204, a pointer 1208, and asection to display the current word and/or list possible completions1206. In the selection window 1202 shapes are displayed which areassociated with the current letters 1212 that are available forselection. In addition to letters, symbols, numbers, icons, word parts,mixed case letters and any other characters could be used. For example,if the pending word entry were the letters “explana_”, one of theselection areas could contain the word fragment “tion”. The sizes of theshapes may correspond to the number of words or selections that arefeasible if that selection is made.

In FIG. 12(a), the user selects the shape with the letter “T”. Thiscauses the selection window 1202 to zoom into the “T” and reveal choicesfor the next letter as shown in FIG. 12(b). The aspect ratio and shapeof the selected letter are stretched so that only choices for the nextcharacter are shown. Also as shown in FIG. 12(b), the interface updatesthe current word that is being spelled 1216 and lists possiblecompletions 1218. The user can move the pointer to these completions andselect them to finish off the word. In the case illustrated, the userselects the shape with the “O” in it, and the interface animates a zoominto the “O” to reveal another set of shapes with letters as shown inFIG. 12(c). To complete the word “top”, the user can select “top” in thelist of possible completions 1218 or select the “P” from the selectionwindow 1202. To assist in usability any of the following modificationscould be used either by themselves, or in combination: (1) shapes couldbe provided which are associated with actions to perform, for example,such actions as either character erasure, or to initiate a search; (2)the selection that the pointer is currently over can be identified byeither a highlight, slight enlargement, or performing an animation; and(3) shapes could be colored or otherwise adjusted to provide visualdistinctiveness in addition to the indicated character(s) association.

In another exemplary embodiment of the current invention, the user mayneed to select from a large list of text items, such as movie names,artists, music album names, phone directory listings, business listings,etc, or the user may need to enter arbitrary text. In the formersituation, the user can be presented with a selection window in itszoomed out state. From here the user proceeds to click on the beginningletter or letters of the item that they want to find. In response, theinterface animates a zoom operation into the shape containing the letterand reveals a next set of letters or a list of items. The user can thenselect the desired item or press a go back control to return to the toplevel zoomed out state. The latter situation is very similar, except ateach zoom level, the interface presents subsequent letters that could beconcatenated to the word. The display areas of these letters can alsocorrespond to their probability of being next. In addition, thoseskilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention is equallyapplicable to embodiments wherein multiple zoom options could exist,e.g., zoom in, zoom out, zoom to any previously viewed level, orpartition the screen to show multiple zoom levels simultaneously.

In another exemplary embodiment of the current invention, the size ofeach selection shape 1020 is proportional to the likelihood that anavailable word represented by that selection will ultimately be the wordthat is selected. This could result in a different shape size thanembodiments which size the shape based solely on the number of feasiblewords represented by that selection. One example of shape sizing usingthis criterion is sentence entry. At a point in a sentence, manyadjectives may be appropriate (feasible), but the number of nouns may berelatively few. Since a user is more likely to pick a noun over a longstring of adjectives, the nouns can be represented with largerrectangles. A process that tracks the context and semantics of theenvironment in which the selection is being made could assign likelihoodvalues to each of the feasible words represented by the selection. Thiswould enhance the experience by improving the prediction of what theuser's most likely selection would be. This could be further extended tosymbols, numbers, icons, and mixed case letters, etc.

Based on one or more predetermined criteria, e.g., ultimate probabilityof selection or raw number of feasible selections, the shapes (e.g.,rectangles) can be drawn on the screen using a number of differenttechniques at each zoom level of the text entry tool. One such techniqueinvolves using a treemap algorithm to perform the shape sizing based onthe predetermined criteria. An exemplary treemap algorithm is known as a“quantum treemap” algorithm, which is described in the article entitled“Ordered and Quantum Treemaps: Making Effective Use of @d Space toDisplay Hierarchies” by Benjamin B. Bederson et al., ACM Transactions onGraphics (TOG), Volume 21, Issue 4, October 2002, pp. 833-854, thedisclosure of which is incorporated here by reference. Using thisalgorithm, the number of word or letter choices available at aparticular zoom level in the zoomable, keyboardless text entry interfacecan be separated into bins so that the ratio between the largest tosmallest bin is less than roughly a factor of 3 (although this factorcan be adjustable) and that the number of bins is limited to apredetermined maximum. These features prevent the treemap algorithm fromgenerating rectangles that are too small to target with a pointingdevice.

Third Exemplary Embodiment—Rows of Keys With Result Display

According to yet another exemplary embodiment of the present inventiontwo rows of characters can be displayed proximate the top of a screenthat can be used for text entry purposes without the need for a keyboardas shown in FIG. 13. Among other things, this approach provides variousbenefits. Firstly, when pointing, it is more efficient to move a cursorin substantially one axis of motion as compared to large, abrupt motionchanges. Secondly, by placing the text entry tool toward an edge of thedisplay, the remaining space is maximized to display choices based ontext entry. As in the previous embodiments, characters can be selectedby positioning a cursor over a desired key and then either waiting forthe expiration of a timer or explicitly making a final selection via,e.g., a button press. When text is entered, as shown in FIG. 14,resulting potential groups of selections can then be displayed andscaled below the rows of text. In this example, the potential selectiongroups are represented by cover art associated with selectable movies,however it will be appreciated that this is purely illustrative. Thesegroups can be scaled so as to be visually pleasing and to have the useravoid perceiving that anything is missing within the group. Othervisually pleasing displays could be used such as, for example, thedisplays shown in FIGS. 15 and 16. The content of the groups' changesand becomes more refined as more text is entered and searching occurs asshown in FIGS. 17 and 18.

The two rows of characters displayed in this exemplary embodiment aretext with a few additional characters. Text characters predominate thisexemplary keyboardless text entry interface, since (for someapplications) text is the predominant entry type and minimizing thetotal number of choices will speed up entry. For cases when otherentries are needed, a backspace button 1400, a blank space button 1402,a back button 1406 and an expand button 1404 are included in thisexemplary embodiment of the present invention. The backspace button 1400erases previously entered text selections in the display box 1408. Theblank space button inserts a space in the display box 1408. The backbutton 1406 replaces the current display results with the previousdisplay results and corresponding text entry in display box 1408. Theexpand button character 1404 allows access to other characters such asnumbers, symbols, etc, by displaying one or more additional rows ofcharacters (not shown).

Systems and methods for keyboardless text entry according to exemplaryembodiments of the present invention can be performed by one or moreprocessors executing sequences of instructions contained in a memorydevice (not shown). Such instructions may be read into the memory devicefrom other computer-readable mediums such as secondary storage devices.Execution of the sequences of instructions contained in thecomputer-readable medium and/or memory device causes the processor tooperate, for example, as described above to handle keyboardless textentry. In alternative embodiments, hard-wire circuitry may be used inplace of or in combination with software instructions to implement thepresent invention.

Numerous variations of the afore-described exemplary embodiments arecontemplated. For example, other exemplary embodiments of the presentinvention can contain such features as a vocabulary not limited to anyparticular set of words (characters, symbols, etc.), and a dictionaryassist on words entered. The above-described exemplary embodiments areintended to be illustrative in all respects, rather than restrictive, ofthe present invention. Thus the present invention is capable of manyvariations in detailed implementation that can be derived from thedescription contained herein by a person skilled in the art. All suchvariations and modifications are considered to be within the scope andspirit of the present invention as defined by the following claims. Noelement, act, or instruction used in the description of the presentapplication should be construed as critical or essential to theinvention unless explicitly described as such. Also, used herein, thearticle “a” is intended to include one or more items.

1. A method for entering characters into an interface, comprising thesteps of: displaying a text entry tool having a center and a pluralityof sectors relative to said center, each of said sectors associated withat least one character; selecting one of said characters by selecting anassociated sector; and entering said selected one of said charactersinto said interface in response to a predetermined event occurringsubsequent to said selection step.
 2. The method of claim 1, whereineach of said sectors is associated with one and only one of saidplurality of characters.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein said step ofselecting one of said characters further comprises the step of:positioning a cursor over said associated sector.
 4. The method of claim1, wherein said step of selecting one of said characters furthercomprises the step of: moving between said plurality of sectors using ascroll wheel.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein said predetermined eventis expiration of a timer which starts after said associated sector hasbeen selected.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein said timer has a valuewhich is manually adjustable.
 7. The method of claim 5, wherein saidtimer has a value which is automatically adjustable based on a user'sprevious character selection behavior.
 8. The method of claim 1, whereinthe text entry tool is circular and contains the letters “A” to “Z”,each of which are associated with one of said plurality of sectors. 9.The method of claim 3, wherein the cursor can be positioned outside ofan area contained within a perimeter of said text entry tool to select acharacter.
 10. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:displaying characters as they are entered in a text box; and displayinga list of potential text entries based on previously entered characters11. An interface input method, comprising the steps of; selecting one ofa plurality of objects provided on a display, said selected object beingassociated with at least one character from a first group of characters;zooming into said selected object; revealing a plurality of additionalobjects, each associated with one character from a second group ofcharacters, said second group of characters including those characterswhich are potentially selectable given said at least one character fromsaid first group; and selecting one of said plurality of additionalobjects to enter a text into an interface.
 12. The method of claim 11,wherein said objects have a rectangular shape.
 13. The method of claim11, further comprising the step of: displaying each object with an areathat is proportional to the probability of that object being selected.14. The method of claim 11, further comprising the steps of: displayingeach of said objects at a first magnification level; and zooming intosaid additional objects by changing to a second magnification level. 15.An interface input method, comprising the steps of: selecting one of aplurality of objects provided on a display, said selected object beingassociated with at least one character from a first group of characters;zooming into said selected object; and revealing a plurality ofadditional objects, each associated with a subsequent selection that isrelated to the selected at least one character.
 16. The interface methodof claim 15, wherein said additional objects are movie titles.
 17. Theinterface method of claim 15, wherein said additional objects are imagesassociated with media items.
 18. An interface input method comprisingthe steps of: displaying two rows of keys proximate an edge of a displayscreen, each key being associated with one character; selecting one ofsaid keys; displaying said one character associated with said selectedkey in a text box on said display screen; and displaying candidate itemsfor selections in a display area beside said two rows of keys, whereinsaid candidate items for selection are chosen based on text displayed insaid text box.
 19. The method of claim 18, wherein said displayedcandidate items are images associated with movies.
 20. A keyboardlesstext entry interface comprising: a text entry tool displayed on a screenhaving a center and a plurality of sectors relative to said center, eachof said sectors associated with at least one character; a selectionmechanism for selecting one of said characters by selecting anassociated sector; and a text box for displaying said selected one ofsaid characters after entry in response to a predetermined eventoccurrence.
 21. The keyboardless text entry interface of claim 20,wherein each of said sectors is associated with one and only one of saidplurality of characters.
 22. The keyboardless text entry interface ofclaim 20, wherein said selection mechanism includes a cursor operatingin conjunction with a pointing device.
 23. The keyboardless text entryinterface of claim 20, wherein said selection mechanism includes ascroll wheel.
 24. The keyboardless text entry interface of claim 20,wherein said predetermined event is expiration of a timer which startsafter said associated sector has been selected.
 25. The keyboardlesstext entry interface of claim 24, wherein said timer has a value whichis manually adjustable.
 26. The keyboardless text entry interface ofclaim 24, wherein said timer has a value which is automaticallyadjustable based on a user's previous character selection behavior. 27.The keyboardless text entry interface of claim 20, wherein the textentry tool is circular and contains the letters “A” to “Z”, each ofwhich are associated with one of said plurality of sectors.
 28. Thekeyboardless text entry interface of claim 22, wherein the cursor can bepositioned outside of an area contained within a perimeter of said textentry tool to select a character.
 29. The keyboardless text entryinterface of claim 20, further comprising: a list of potential textentries populated based on previously entered characters
 30. Acomputer-readable medium containing a program which, when executed,performs the steps of: displaying a text entry tool having a center anda plurality of sectors relative to said center, each of said sectorsassociated with at least one character; selecting one of said charactersby selecting an associated sector; and entering said selected one ofsaid characters into said interface in response to a predetermined eventoccurring subsequent to said selection step.
 31. A system for enteringcharacters into an interface, comprising: means for displaying a textentry tool having a center and a plurality of sectors relative to saidcenter, each of said sectors associated with at least one character;means for selecting one of said characters by selecting an associatedsector; and means for entering said selected one of said characters intosaid interface in response to a predetermined event occurring subsequentto said selection step.
 32. A computer-readable medium containing aprogram which, when executed, performs the steps of: selecting one of aplurality of objects provided on a display, said selected object beingassociated with at least one character from a first group of characters;zooming into said selected object; revealing a plurality of additionalobjects, each associated with one character from a second group ofcharacters, said second group of characters including those characterswhich are potentially selectable given said at least one character fromsaid first group; and selecting one of said plurality of additionalobjects to enter a text into an interface.
 33. An interface input systemcomprising: means for selecting one of a plurality of objects providedon a display, said selected object being associated with at least onecharacter from a first group of characters; means for zooming into saidselected object; means for revealing a plurality of additional objects,each associated with one character from a second group of characters,said second group of characters including those characters which arepotentially selectable given said at least one character from said firstgroup; and means for selecting one of said plurality of additionalobjects to enter a text into an interface.
 34. A computer-readablemedium containing a program which, when executed, performs the steps of:selecting one of a plurality of objects provided on a display, saidselected object being associated with at least one character from afirst group of characters; zooming into said selected object; andrevealing a plurality of additional objects, each associated with asubsequent selection that is related to the selected at least onecharacter.
 35. An interface input system comprising: means for selectingone of a plurality of objects provided on a display, said selectedobject being associated with at least one character from a first groupof characters; means for zooming into said selected object; and meansfor revealing a plurality of additional objects, each associated with asubsequent selection that is related to the selected at least onecharacter.
 36. A computer-readable medium containing a program which,when executed, performs the steps of: displaying two rows of keysproximate an edge of a display screen, each key being associated withone character; selecting one of said keys; displaying said one characterassociated with said selected key in a text box on said display screen;and displaying candidate items for selections in a display area besidesaid two rows of keys, wherein said candidate items for selection arechosen based on text displayed in said text box.
 37. A system forkeyboardless text entry comprising: means for displaying two rows ofkeys proximate an edge of a display screen, each key being associatedwith one character; means for selecting one of said keys; means fordisplaying said one character associated with said selected key in atext box on said display screen; and means for displaying candidateitems for selections in a display area beside said two rows of keys,wherein said candidate items for selection are chosen based on textdisplayed in said text box.